The religion clauses of the First Amendment, which seem simple and clear, have been and continue to be controversial in their application. Church-state issues have never been more complex, controversial, and divisive than they are today. In this helpful and instructive book, Ronald B. Flowers explains clearly and concisely the intricacies and implications of Supreme Court decisions in the volatile area of church-state relations. This is an ideal primer for those Americans who have listened to the debates about what the Supreme Court has and has not said about the relationship between church and state, and where the boundaries between the two have been eroded. It is also ideal for use in the classroom, specifically in undergraduate courses in religion and the court, introductions to U.S. constitutional law, constitutional law and politics, and the Supreme Court. The book is also a helpful tool for pastors, clarifying contemporary church-state issues that impact their churches and parishioners directly and indirectly.

It is clear, relevant, and an essential text for the twenty-first century.

"If a martian landed in America and set out to determine the nation's official state religion, he would have to conclude it is liberalism, while Christianity and Judaism are prohibited by law. Many Americans are outraged by liberal hostility to traditional religion. But as Ann Coulter reveals in this, her most explosive book yet, to focus solely on the Left's attacks on our Judeo-Christian tradition is to miss a larger point: liberalism is a religion—a godless one. And it is now entrenched as the state religion of this county. Though liberalism rejects the idea of God and reviles people of faith, it bears all the attributes of a religion. In Godless, Coulter throws open the doors of the Church of Liberalism, showing us its sacraments (abortion), its holy writ (Roe v. Wade), its martyrs (from Soviet spy Alger Hiss to cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal), its clergy (public school teachers), its churches (government schools, where prayer is prohibited but condoms are free), its doctrine of infallibility (as manifest in the "absolute moral authority" of spokesmen from Cindy Sheehan to Max Cleland), and its cosmology (in which mankind is an inconsequential accident). Then, of course, there's the liberal creation myth: Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. For liberals, evolution is the touchstone that separates the enlightened from the benighted. But Coulter neatly reverses the pretense that liberals are rationalists guided by the ideals of free inquiry and the scientific method. She exposes the essential truth about Darwinian evolution that liberals refuse to confront: it is bogus science. Writing with a keen appreciation for genuine science, Coulter reveals that the so-called gaps in the theory of evolution are all there is—Darwinism is nothing but a gap. After 150 years of dedicated searching into the fossil record, evolution's proponents have failed utterly to substantiate its claims. And a long line of supposed evidence, from the infamous Piltdown Man to the "evolving" peppered moths of England, has been exposed as hoaxes. Still, liberals treat those who question evolution as religious heretics and prohibit students from hearing about real science when it contradicts Darwinism. And these are the people who say they want to keep faith out of the classroom? Liberals' absolute devotion to Darwinism, Coulter shows, has nothing to do with evolution's scientific validity and everything to do with its refusal to admit the possibility of God as a guiding force. They will brook no challenges to the official religion. Fearlessly confronting the high priests of the Church of Liberalism and ringing with Coulter's razor-sharp wit, Godless is the most important and riveting book yet from one of today's most lively and impassioned conservative voices. "Liberals love to boast that they are not 'religious,' which is what one would expect to hear from the state-sanctioned religion. Of course liberalism is a religion. It has its own cosmology, its own miracles, its own beliefs in the supernatural, its own churches, its own high priests, its own saints, its own total worldview, and its own explanation of the existence of the universe. In other words, liberalism contains all the attributes of what is generally known as 'religion.'" —From Godless

From colonial times to the present, an insightful examination of how courts have determined the extent to which religion is accommodated in American public life. From the internationally renowned Scopes "Monkey Trial" of 1925, which pitted a public school teacher arrested for teaching evolution against the state of Tennessee, Religion on Trial chronicles key court cases that have shaped the tumultuous relationship between church and state throughout U.S. history. This volume chronicles such groundbreaking cases as the 1991 decision ordering blood transfusions for children of Christian Scientists in Norwood Hospital v. Munoz and the infamous case, Engel v. Vitale, that banned prayer in schools and ignited calls for Chief Justice Earl Warren's impeachment. The work addresses such inflammatory contemporary disputes as prayer in schools, allegiance to the flag, and the display of religious symbols on public property, and the impact they have had on American society.

There has always been an intricate relationship between religion and politics. This encyclopedia provides a comprehensive overview of the interrelation of religion and politics from colonial days to the present. Can a judge display the Ten Commandments outside of the courthouse? Can a town set up a nativity scene on the village green during Christmas? Should U.S. currency bear the "In God We Trust" motto? Should public school students be allowed to form bible study groups? Controversies about the separation of church and state, the proper use of religious imagery in public space, and the role of religious beliefs in public education are constantly debated. This work offers insights into contemporary controversies regarding the uneasy intersections of religion and politics in America. Organized alphabetically, the entries place each topic in its proper historical context to help readers fully grasp how religious beliefs have always existed side by side—and often clashed with—political ideals in the United States from the time of the colonies. The information is presented in an unbiased manner that favors no particular religious background or political inclination. This work shows that politics and religion have always had an impact on one another and have done so in many ways that will likely surprise modern students.

Praise for the previous edition: "...concise, well-written entries...Schultz's accessible work will be of use to both undergraduates and the general public; recommended for all academic and public libraries."—Library Journal "...achieves the goal of presenting a serious overview of the Supreme Court."—Booklist "At its reasonable price this title should be found in every American library, public as well as academic. It should also be purchased by every high school library, no matter how small the school body may be."—American Reference Books Annual From the structure of the Supreme Court to its proceedings, this comprehensive encyclopedia presents the cornerstone of the American justice system. Featuring more than 600 A-to-Z entries—written by leading academics and lawyers—Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court, Second Edition offers a thorough review of critical cases, issues, biographies, and topics important to understanding the Supreme Court. Entries include: Abortion Capital punishment Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Double jeopardy employment discrimination Federalism Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission Obergefell v. Hodges police use of force public health and the U.S. Constitution Thurgood Marshall Title IX and schools United States v. Nixon Earl Warren Wiretapping

In this important study, Mark Toulouse maps the ambiguous landscape between American Christianity and American public life. Built on an extensive study of religious periodical literature since the mid-1950s and on an analysis of landmark events in American history, Toulouse develops an insightful typology for understanding how Americans have related their Christian faith to public life. For Toulouse, the relationship between American Christianity and American public life exists in four styles of interaction--iconic faith, priestly faith, the public Christian, and the public church--with each model appearing in various forms across the terrain of American history. Carefully examined and accessibly written, this study is sure to generate discussion and bring clarity to the many ambiguities and diversities that continue to mark American Christianity.